Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of state military personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the path to complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities indicated the troops would not perform police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard insignia were observed at the military facility in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were set up in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also issued an directive on that day prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "justify and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic federal law limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his second term, Trump has sent or mentioned deploying military units to over ten cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is essential to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Data shows that serious offenses nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, homicides were down nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per police data.
New survey data released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.